Equipo de gira de la Pequeña Amal

Amir Nizar Zuabi es un dramaturgo y director galardonado. Fue el director artístico fundador de la compañía de teatro ShiberHur; director asociado del Young Vic Theatre; miembro de los United Theatres Europe por sus logros artísticos y ex alumno de The Sundance Institute Theatre Program. 

Después de trabajar en The Walk, en enero de 2022 aceptó el papel de director artístico de The Walk Productions Limited. Entre sus trabajos como guionista y director se incluyen I am Yusuf y This is my Brother, In the Penal Colony, Oh My Sweet Land The Beloved (ShiberHur/Young Vic); Three Days of Grief, West of Us The Sea, Mid Spring Musical, Dry Mud, Against A Hard Surface (ShiberHur); Last Ward, Who Killed You Asmahan, The Huta and Grey Rock (Remote Theater Project, La Mama NYC). 

Figura como director en: Samson and Delilah (Flanders Opera, Amberes); Jidarriya by Mahmoud Darwish (Edinburgh International Festival, Bouffes du Nord y gira mundial); Forget Herostratus, Le Mallade Imaginer, War or More, Sneeze, Deep Sorrow, Fall Tale, When The World Was Green, Lanterns Of The King Of Galilee, Taha y The Comedy of Errors (Royal Shakespeare Company).

David Lan es escritor y productor. Fue escritor residente del Royal Court Theatre 1994/1996; director artístico del Young Vic 2000/2018; director artístico asesor en el Performing Arts Center en NY 2014/2016 y asociado teatral de BAM 2019/2020. Sus publicaciones incluyen Guns and Rain: guerrillas and spirit mediums en Zimbabue, una colección de obras y una memoria As if by Chance: Journeys, Theatres, Lives.

Los créditos como productora de Tracey Seaward incluyen Millions, de Danny Boyle; The Constant Gardener, de Fernando Meirelles, ganadora de un Óscar; Eastern Promises, de David Cronenberg; War Horse, de Steven Spielberg; Genius, de Michael Grandage; ocho películas con Stephen Frears, entre ellas Dirty Pretty Things, nominada a los premios BAFTA y de la Academia; The Queen, por la que ganó un BAFTA a la mejor película británica y fue nominada a los Globos de Oro y premios de la Academia; Tamara Drewe, Philomena, por la que recibió otra nominación a los Globos de Oro, BAFTA y premios de la Academia a la mejor película; Florence Foster Jenkins, nominada a los Globos de Oro y protagonizada por Meryl Streep y Hugh Grant; y Victoria & Abdul.

Tracey también produjo la ceremonia de inauguración de los Juegos Olímpicos de Londres, dirigida por Danny Boyle, y Los dos Papas, dirigida por Fernando Meirelles y protagonizada por Anthony Hopkins y Jonathan Pryce, que fue nominada a 4 Globos de Oro, 4 BAFTA y 3 premios de la Academia.

Tracey fue productora ejecutiva de Pistol, una miniserie de seis horas dirigida por Danny Boyle para FX, y es productora ejecutiva de The Palace, actualmente en producción para HBO, dirigida por Stephen Frears y protagonizada por Kate Winslet.

Antes de caminar con Amal, Sarah Loader fue gerente general y productora teatral para muchas producciones y giras del West End. Fue gerente general del Young Vic y Mark Rubinstein (MRL); productora asociada para ATG Productions, y asistente de producción para Bill Kenwright. Además, fue productora independiente durante muchos años, especializándose en obras nuevas y musicales. Entre 2009 y 2016, fue asociada creativa a Simon McBurney.

Alice Evans es una productora comunitaria que ha trabajado en el sector del arte durante más de diez años. Su experiencia consiste en llevar a las comunidades al ámbito del teatro profesional de alta calidad. Alice ha trabajado en diferentes departamentos de educación en todo el Reino Unido y aporta un enfoque único desarrollado a través del trabajo en Shakespeare’s Globe produciendo Midsummer Mechanicals. El objetivo principal de esta producción era crear un espacio dentro del Sam Wanamaker Playhouse que rompiera todas las convenciones habituales del papel de la audiencia y garantizara la accesibilidad como prioridad principal, lo que llevó a que todas las funciones fueran relajadas. El éxito de esta producción está reflejado en su nominación a los premios Olivier.

Alice ha trabajado como productora comunitaria en el Theatre Clwyd, llevando a cabo su primera gran producción comunitaria, Mold Riots, un espectáculo bilingüe, creado específicamente para el lugar, al aire libre y en el paseo marítimo, en el que participaron 200 voluntarios de la comunidad. Alice estableció asociaciones con organizaciones benéficas locales para llegar a los miembros de la comunidad, como City of Sanctuary y Mind.

Recientemente, Alice ha sido la productora educativa de The Walk (La caminata) de la pequeña Amal por Europa en 2021. No solo elaboró el programa y la guía educativa para difundirlos entre escuelas y centros educativos a lo largo de la ruta desde Siria hasta el Reino Unido, sino que también se puso en contacto con las comunidades de los ocho países visitados por Amal.

Alice también ha sido curadora de Wellbeing, un programa artístico en el Deer Shed Festival, un festival de música familiar en el norte de Inglaterra.

Joanne Dixon has been working within feature film, TV drama, documentaries, commercials, promotional/corporate videos for 20 years. She has a passion for the personal and professional development of individuals and is a qualified Personal and Professional Performance Coach, focusing on Wellness and Wellbeing to achieve success in a holistic way across all aspects of life.

Enrico Dau Yang Wey, de Taiwán, es director de marionetas y asociado artístico para todas las producciones con la pequeña Amal. Desde hace mucho tiempo es miembro titular de Handspring y ha participado en Il Ritorno d’Ulisse de Kentridge y War Horse en Broadway. Fue director residente de marionetas para la producción alemana de War Horse. Enrico ha presentado trabajos a través de Danspace Project (US), Conde Duque (ES), y para River to River Festival 2018 (US). Entre sus papeles más destacados se incluyen 3x3x6 de Shulea Cheang (2019 Pabellón de Taiwan en la Bienal de Venecia); el largometraje de Dennis Cooper/Zac Farley Like Cattle Towards Glow y papeles para los coreógrafos Robyn Orlin, Annie-b Parson e Ishmael Houston-Jones. Enrico posee un máster por la UdK de Berlín y ha publicado trabajos de investigación en Brumaria (ES) y Performance Research (UK). Recientemente, Yang Wey participó en la producción itinerante británica de Animal Farm y ha interpretado una partitura vocal basada en esta investigación para Picnic Sessions en el Centro de Arte Dos de Mayo de Madrid.

Ashley Winkfield is a multidisciplinary artist and writer from Durham, NC where they grew up surrounded by music and the arts. They began their journey into professional performance at UNC-Chapel Hill where they were introduced to puppetry while workshopping Basil Twist’s Rite of Spring. After graduating with a degree in Performance Studies, Ashley began performing new works in New York City at locations such as Jazz at Lincoln Center, Abrons Art Center, LaMama, and Greenwood Cemetery. They currently train with Shannah Rae Vocal Studios and Lucid Body Technique. Ashley is currently based in Brooklyn, NY, and Winston-Salem, NC.

As well as working with Little Amal, Ben Kramer works on film and TV productions across the UK.  In his spare time he lovingly refurbishes old vehicles and spends as much time as he can in his native Cornwall.

Ben Thompson is from West Sussex, and grew up near Chichester. Ben trained at Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

Ben’s theatre work includes; Oddbod the Dog in The Boy in the Dress (RSC), Die Zauberflote (Glyndebourne), Mr. White in The Town That Trees Built (Young Vic), The Magic Flute (ENO), Toto in The Wizard of Oz (Birmingham Rep), Dad in The Marbleous Route Home (Young Vic), Vivaldi’s Four Seasons: A Reimagining (Shakespeare’s Globe), Wilbur in Winnie and Wilbur (Birmingham Rep), Kipper in Kipper’s Snowy Day (Slot Machine), Oona the Elephant in Running Wild (Regent’s Park), The Rebel in Light (Ad Infinitum), The Lorax in The Lorax (Old Vic), Claudio in Measure for Measure (The Factory), Captain Flint in Treasure Island (National Theatre), Tesoro in Before the Dawn (Hammersmith Apollo), Zephyrus in The Light Princess (National Theatre), Curio in Twelfth Night and Dorset in Richard III (Shakespeare’s Globe/Apollo), Rosencrantz/Gravedigger in Hamlet (The Factory), Nephew Fred/Tiny Tim in A Christmas Carol (National Theatre of Scotland), Joey/Topthorn in War Horse (National Theatre), Golden Monkey/Balthamos in His Dark Materials (Birmingham Rep/West Yorkshire Playhouse), Kevin in Low Life (Blind Summit Theatre), Sorrow in Madam Butterfly (ENO), Drone in Faeries (ROH2) and John Darling in Peter Pan (Dundee Rep). Television and Film work includes; Mould in Fungus the Bogeyman (Sky/The Imaginarium), Bear in Table Manners (Indy8/Channel 4) and as a puppeteer in Fantastic Beasts 2, Gravity (Warner Bros.) and Life (Columbia Pictures).

Mohammed Smahneh – who goes by Barges – is a self-taught hip-hop and contemporary dance artist. He has won various break-dance battles in Palestine and performed in many international and local projects including: Badke, a co-production between KVS, les ballets C de la B & A.M. Qattan Foundation (2013-16, Belgium); B choreographed by Koen Augustijnen and Rosalba Torres (2017-2019, Belgium);  Nomads Dance Camp directed by Dina Abu Hamdan with choreographers Jorge Crecis, Taoufiq Izzediou, and Samar Haddad King (2014, Jordan); Naji Ali with Botega Dance Company directed by Enzo Celli (2009, Italy); and was a champion in Floor Wars Battle (2012, Denmark). In 2004-5 Smahneh performed dabke in festivals in Spain and Greece. Mohammed has been a member of Yaa Samar! Dance Theatre (YSDT) since 2011.

Craig Leo is a South African theatre designer, puppeteer and performing artist.

Local collaborations include: Magnet Theatre, Jazzart Dance Theatre, Mothertongue Project, Janni Younge Productions. Handspring Puppet Company credits include: Tall Horse, War Horse, Il Ritorno d’Ulisse (William Kentridge), Or I’ll Kiss You and The Life and Times of Michael K.  Directorial Credits include: Associate Director of Puppetry, War Horse (UK, Holland and Australia), Puppetry Direction for Franco Dragone’s House of the Dancing Water and Olifantland.

Most recently: Puppetry design and direction, Elliot Harper’s The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, director Sally Cookson, Leeds Playhouse/The Bridge Theatre, London. Recent puppetry credits Include: Gyre and Gimble’s, Vivaldi’s Four Season Re-Imagined, Shakespeare’s Globe, London.

Elijah Grant is an experienced and creative Videographer and Video Editor, with extensive experience in creating online advertisements, trailers, documentaries, branded content, event highlights and behind the scenes. His ambition is to challenge the status quo while empowering audiences, creating video content that inspires, educates and entertains others.

Emma Longthorne is a British actor and puppeteer who trained at East 15 Acting School and The Curious School of Puppetry.

Theatre credits include: The Man Who Wanted to be a Penguin (Stuff and Nonsense) My Other Self: Richard III (Cockpit Theatre) Dear Zoo Live (UK Tour) Home for Christmas (Lichfield Garrick) The Comedy of Errors (Open Bar Theatre) Lily and the Little Snowbear (UK Tour) Coriolanus, The Comedy of Errors (Cambridge Shakespeare Festival) Macbeth (Tristan Bates Theatre) The Snow Queen, Twelfth Night (White Horse Theatre).

Fidaa Zidan is actress and writer. She was born in the village of Beit Jann, in the Galilee region of Palestine. She received a BA in Social Theater from Haifa University, and a Master of  Fine Arts from Tel-Aviv University. She wrote and performed the Arabic version of her capstone production, The Last Day of Spring (2018) in Haifa, Ramallah, Jerusalem, Uganda- KITF, and in Hebrew at the Tel Aviv University.

In January 2019, Zidan performed in Amir Nizar Zuabi’s play, Grey Rock, produced by Remote Theater Project in New York City and featured in the New York Times, and later toured the USA in January 2020.

She has worked with Zuabi in several plays including Against a Hard Surface (2017) a co-production with Ya Samer Dance Theater, West of Us the Sea (2016) and The Lanterns of the King of Galilee (2016).

Additional performances include: The Stone is Our Sign (2014) directed by Di Travis and produced by the Jenin Freedom Theater; The Freedom Bus (2012) playback theatre projects around the West Bank directed by Ben Rivers; Mire (2016) a musical theatre show by Faraj Suliman and Amir Nizar Zuabi.

Films include: Polygraph a short film by Samera Saraya (2019) Another Point of View a short film by Bilal Khateb (2018).

Fidaa also participates in social theater programs for disadvantaged communities and various educational projects, also edit and participate in Children’s theater projects.

Currently Fidaa is writing SpokenWord and  her first short movie script.

Laura Wohlwend is a Swiss theatre maker, youth worker and “social media person”. She trained on the BA Acting at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. Laura has worked in refugee camps in Greece and is now working for the charity Compass Collective who supports the integration of young refugees through theatre. Laura is passionate about using storytelling as a tool to amplify underrepresented voices and give a positive/celebratory representation of refugees and asylum seekers.

Muaz Aljubeh is a Jerusalem based, Palestinian lighting designer who has been working in the field since 1995. He was the technical director for Al-Kasaba Theatre and Cinematheque for almost 20 years and is currently the technical director for the Ramallah Contemporary Dance Festival since its founding in 2006.

He has created light for more than 30 local productions, which have toured nationally and internationally. His work has been seen in notable theatres and festivals such as Tokyo Art International Festival (Japan), Carthage Theatrical Days Festival (Tunisia), Young Vic Theatre (United Kingdom), The Avignon Festival (France), and the Institute De La Monde Arab (France). He is currently touring Taha, Azza, Where Can I Find Someone Like You, Ali?, and Against a Hard Surface.

Nicole Baker received her BFA in dance performance from Adelphi University, graduating Summa Cum Laude. At AU, she performed the works of Martha Graham, Orion Duckstein, Takehiro Ueyama, Paul Taylor, and Jiří Kylián. Currently, she is a company member of Eryc Taylor Dance and chrisbell dances. Nicole most recently traveled to Mumbai, India for a three week tour to perform in an exclusive industrial with internationally renowned choreographer Nikos Lagousakos in the 2019 Aditya Birla Group Awards.

Rachel Leonard is passionate about puppetry… how it can free imagination and deepen an audience’s personal connection to a story through their empathetic interpretation of the puppet’s actions. Her love of the art form was cemented in the 1990’s, while training at The Little Angel Theatre in London, and aboard The Puppet Theatre Barge. Since then she has also gone on to work with The RSC, The National Theatre, Kneehigh, MIF with Phelim McDermott, Handspring Puppet Co, Silent Tide and The Curious School of Puppetry amongst many others.

When not looking after Amal, Sam Moore can be found creating magical events and transforming spaces for people to explore, discover and enjoy. With over a decade of experience in live events, he takes any challenge in his stride and revels in solving whatever problems you throw at him.

Sarah Calver is a director, writer, dramaturg and actor. She works in various capacities in the creation and development of new work for theatre and film with a focus on devised, collaborative, movement based and interdisciplinary work. She is founder of international company Flight of the Escales.

A War Horse alumni, she’s chuffed to have worked with Handspring again and on this necessary and beautiful project.

My name is Sebastian Charles and I’m a physical theatre performer/actor. Born in the UK. I started my theatrical journey very young as I’m part of a very “performy” family, this took me into TV work in my early teens but I found the love for physical theatre in my late teens which after working with Frantic Assembly, took me to college.

After graduating from East 15 in Southend studying BA in Physical Theatre and Acting, I began my crazy 7 year journey till now.

Performing as an outdoor street theatre clown as my first job post grad, to delving more into dance theatre, to travelling overseas as a lead singer in an a cappella band, performing in Latitude and Riverside Theatre on the Southbank as Puck from A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

I’m always looking for something that I know is going to creatively challenge me and a story that I believe in. This took me to Action to the Word’s A Clockwork Orange at the Park Theatre, followed by my journey in War Horse which lasted 18 months. I felt I’d been a horse long enough and wanted to speak, which took me into something a little different and narrated for the English National Ballet. Finally my last adventure before everything took a long theatrical nap was performing in The Bridge Theatre in Sally Cookson’s production of Lion Witch and the Wardrobe, all while selling hats in-between to keep that London roof over me head.

Sophien Riahi has worked for nearly decade in film and TV production in France, including for First Step, Serpent Production, Peninsula Film Riviera, Quad Production and Les Films du Kiosque.

Toronto-based performer Troy Feldman has worked as a professional puppeteer, actor, choreographer, dancer, stilt walker, parkour artist, acrobat, and stuntman for over 20 years.

Troy launched his professional career in the Dora Award winning musical production, Lord of the Rings (Mirvish Productions – world premiere) utilizing his skills as a stilt walker, acrobat, dancer and stunt performer.

As a puppeteer, Troy performed a leading puppeteer role as Joey in War Horse, produced by Mirvish Theatre Productions as well as The Heart of Robinhood (Mirvish Productions), The Forbidden Phoenix (Citadel Theatre/MTYP/YPT), and A Soldier’s Tale (Theatre Aquarius).  

 Troy was recently featured in the starring role of Overlord in the TV series Overlord and the Underwoods (Hulu/CBC Gem/Nickelodeon). Other film and TV credits include: Score: A Hockey Musical, Reign, Save the Last Dance 2, and Stepping Up.   Troy is also a professional street dancer (bboying and house dance), and has traveled across Canada, and Europe both competing and performing.

Yukari Osaka is a dancer, theatre performer, and the director/choreographer of a dance theatre project ENTERART originally from Kobe, Japan. Yukari began her ballet training with Shibata Ballet Studio and continued with Sadamatsu-Hamada Ballet School where she joined their professional ballet company. After she moved to New York, Yukari completed the International Independent Study Program at The Ailey School. She has danced at Yaa Samar! Dance Theatre; a multimedia-contemporary dance company as a founding member since 2006. She has performed a wide range of works by choreographers such as Nikolai Fedorov, Dou Dou Huang, Ricky Jackson, Samar Haddad King, Kate Swan, Susan Tenney and Yuri Ng. She has appeared in various performances including international dance and theatre festivals, musical “Phantom” (Fleure) at Fireside Theatre and opera “Les Contes D’Hoffmann” at The Metropolitan Opera, to name a few. She also appears in commercials and music videos internationally. One of the music videos she has choreographed; “white sea” was selected at Raindance Film Festival in 2014. Yukari recently co-directed and choreographed a performance at the renewal opening ceremony of the most well-known and traffic-filled plaza in Kobe, Japan.

Born in Marseille, France, Zakaria Baggour has a background in cinema dating back to 2019 and has recently worked on the Netflix series Transatlantic with Cory Michael Smith.